Another European night for England’s most successful side in Europe in recent seasons and it’s looking quite like that again this one. The fourth group match commences at 19:45 (GMT) Wednesday and with Chelsea leading the group and a very early Saturday kick off against struggling Liverpool, Mourinho has said he will not rest any players against Maribor contrary to his counterpart Brenden Rodgers who opted to rest 7 players from their starting XI against current and 10 times Champions league winners Real Madrid last night in preparation for Chelsea. Maribor are a side who have only collected two draws and with a last 16 Champions league place already seeming out of reach, their next very achievable target would be to finish 3rd in the group and drop into the last 32 of the Europa league.
Source: Chelseafc.com
Chelsea are still unbeaten despite a drop in the excellent performance levels they had previously sustained for so long, but they just still can’t be beaten. 15 games later, 12 wins and 3 draws demonstrate just how significant Chelsea have been since the start of the season. Top of the Premier league, top of group G and in the capital one cup quarter finals. Chelsea didn’t enjoy one of their best performances against QPR but still managed to grind out a 2-1 win, holding Chelsea’s lead and position at the top of the table. Chelsea go to Slovenia with an eye of Saturday lunch time’s kick off at Anfield, players like Diego Costa struggling with injuries may not be risked. If Chelsea secure the win against Maribor and Schalke avoid defeat away to Sporting, Chelsea will qualify for the last 16.
Maribor, the only Slovenian side to ever play in the Champions league group stage, are the current Slovenian champions and are looking to secure a Europa league last 32 place as they did last year. They are currently 3rd in the group on the back of two draws and one loss. Maribor will also be hoping for Schalke to avoid a loss away to Sporting or better, win in order to keep their European dream alive.
Chelsea’s last game against Maribor ended 6-0 thanks to an Eden Hazard master-class in the last 15 minutes. This game was described as a ‘fake situation’ by the Chelsea boss. He stated “‘The 6-0 win is a fake situation because it was the only match, along with the game against Everton, where one chance was one goal,” in his pre match press conference, bearing the fact Maribor are a good side, well organised and have good players capable of attacking football. Jose Mourinho also voiced Chelsea owe a quality and memorable performance for the supporters of the Slovenian champions who do not have the luxury of experiencing champions league nights very often.
Team news:
Chelsea: Loic Remy has still not recovered from the groin injury he sustained whilst scoring the first goal against Maribor in the reverse fixture and is out of the game, along with John Mikel Obi, who is currently suffering from a knee injury.
Maribor: Ales Majac has got a hamstring problem and is out of tonight’s game also.
Possible Chelsea team: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Luis; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa
Predicted scoreline- 4-0 Chelsea, Hazard, Oscar, Costa x2
Kamal Sultan
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